Core making machines are employed to produce sand cores that are in turn used to produce voids or recesses in cast parts. Such machines typically inject specially prepared sand into a core box comprising first and second mating core box halves. Conventional machines are adapted to accommodate either horizontal-type core boxes having a horizontal parting line or vertical-type core boxes having a vertical parting line or both. In machines adapted to accommodate a horizontal-type core box, the core box is transported into the machine, the core box is elevated to a molding position, an upper half or cope of the core box is clamped and an injecting head injects sand into the core box. Following injection of sand, a gassing plate is moved into position above the core box and curing gas is injected into the core box to cure the cores. Thereafter, a lower half or drag of the core box is lowered away from the cope and the produced cores are retained in the drag. The drag is then transported out of the molding machine for removal of cores. Alternatively, the cores may be retained in the cope and thereafter removed using a core conveyor or a pick off unit.
In machines adapted to accommodate core boxes having a vertical parting line, the assembled core box is transported into the machine, the core box halves are clamped together using side platens and sand is injected into the core box. Curing of the cores in the box is then accomplished using the curing gas and the side platens and core box halves are thereafter moved away from one another. Ejector pins carried by one of the side platens and extending through the corresponding core box half carried thereby insure that the produced cores are retained within the other core box half. The platen carrying the other core box half is retracted by a first piston and cylinder unit and is tilted downwardly by a second piston and cylinder unit. The produced cores are then ejected onto a conveyor or other surface for further processing.
Machines have been devised which may be configured to accommodate either type of core box through the addition of a set of horizontal core box handling components or a set of vertical core box handling components. However, only one set of handling components can be mounted on the machine at a time while in use. As a consequence, the machine must be reconfigured whenever a different core box type is to be used. The time required to reconfigure the machine is significant. The foregoing core making machines are thus limited in their usefulness since such machines are limited in their adaptability to change from one type of core box handling capability to the other. In situations where jobbers or other manufacturers produce different cast parts requiring cores formed in both types of core boxes, two different machines must be purchased and maintained or long reconfiguration times are required. This is an obvious disadvantage which increases the ultimate cost of the cast parts.
Further, as far as applicants are now aware, there is no core making machine which can be readily adapted to add optional features which greatly improve the usefulness thereof.